animagic (9/24/2018)What I find problematic with that request is the fact that the music has to be "close (almost exact)" to something else. No composer is going for that due to the chance of plagiarism claims.

I appreciate that the budget doesn't allow getting the actual rights, but it's not very attractive for a composer to work that way, especially if there's little money involved.

Yes, this is not a very appealing proposition for any musician like myself, although I only work on my own projects and for friends I know if it was interesting enough, this would be months of work for this quality, We work on average for film scores one-minute per day, A working pro would charge £100 - £300 per day but good luck to him anyway, Neal

animagic (9/24/2018)What I find problematic with that request is the fact that the music has to be "close (almost exact)" to something else. No composer is going for that due to the chance of plagiarism claims.

I appreciate that the budget doesn't allow getting the actual rights, but it's not very attractive for a composer to work that way, especially if there's little money involved.

Hmmmmm... in my experience that's pretty common. I used to do quite a bit of scoring work. It wasn't that uncommon for the director to skip the spotting session and just give you near final cuts of scenes that are temp tracked. No spotting session, no cue sheet... just a bunch of temp tracked scenes with the instructions make it sound just like that without it being just like that. There are tons of movies made that way. It's kind of a game to play watching a film and name the temp track(s). As far as not very little money involved... now that part I agree with 100% especially if the director is a stickler... make if sound MORE like John Barry without being John Barry, or make it sound like Bernard Herrmann but more complex... all the while he's paying you peanuts.

To the OP, if you want high quality sound, you'll need to pay a high quality price. If you want some thing that sounds solid and adds to the film, you can get that for a fair price. You need to set expectations as well. Paying a meager sum won't allow for a ton of direction and scrapped cues if the composer feels the quality level and time spent is there. How much are you willing to spend, how many cues are you looking for, how much total music is required, are your scenes near a final cut with temp tracks? Or are you just looking for 1 and 2 minute pieces with that same "feel?" Typically you'll either send a near finished scene with proper pacing that is temp tracked or a scene with SMPTE time code with cue sheet and direction unless you do a sit down spotting session. I'm currently swamped and backlogged with "aftermyrealjob" projects but I could probably get something close to those cues. Keep in mind they are very different pieces. The Resident Evil work is highly synthetic and processed, while Tom's work (is brilliant) and more orchestral based with the classic Zimmer huge drums. Both have the almost cliché Zimmer drums but very different otherwise. So that would need ot be sorted out as well (what is it you really want). What is your timeframe? I wouldn't be able to get to anything for months. I do have a colleague I collaborate with quite a bit. I know he has one decent paying project he's working on but he may be able to take on another sooner than I could. Either of us should be able to get close. Here's an ancient soundcloud link from 2 years ago. I've made way better music since then and have much stronger libraries. We could always send you a 20-30 sec. sample showing a similar style and quality. Let me know the timeframe and budget.

Speaking of "temp tracks," this is a great analysis of the music used for the "Marvel" movies (Iron Man, Thor, etc.).

Bear with the opening sequence. I am not a movie music expert, but I really thought this guy's analysis was very good, and he even "re-scored" parts of a few scenes to demonstrate what he was talking about."The Marvel Symphonic Universe"